“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” -Luke 2:31-32 (Nunc Dimittis)
This song of Simeon, the worthy saint who was waiting for the consolation of Israel (the arrival of Messiah), is also known as the “Canticle of Simeon.” In the Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible) it begins with the words Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine (“now you have dismissed your servant, O Lord”) and thus has since that day formed the title.
Have you ever considered how long Simeon was waiting, day after day near the temple courts, for Messiah to be revealed? The Bible leaves us to wonder. Apparently, it is not important enough information to take up space in holy writ. It may have been months, years, or even decades. Unlike Anna, the prophetess who also anticipated Messiah’s arrival, we are not told that he made his living quarters in the temple—it only tells us that he was waiting. But the temple was surely the proper space for him to do so, for without a doubt Messiah would find his way to that location. No one confirmed this more succinctly than Jesus himself as a spry twelve-year-old when he sent his parents into a panic by remaining behind when their caravan headed north to Galilee after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After what must have been a frantic three-day search, they found him sitting calmly among the teachers in the temple courts. When discovered, Jesus’ simple yet profound response to their entreaties was, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Thus it was there, in Jesus’ Father’s house, that Simeon encountered the one he had been waiting for.
If patience is a virtue, it is not one that is shared by many in our culture. We are a people in a hurry in America. In a hurry to get to work or school, in a hurry to get home, a hurry to get through the stoplight, a hurry to get through the check-out line, a hurry to get to bed, and a hurry to wake up again. We hardly know what to do with ourselves if there isn’t something to do next. “Done fast” is synonymous with “done well” in our hurried minds. Simeon, it seems, lived a life in stark contrast to the American lifestyle. Israel had been waiting for Messiah for a millennium. Simeon was well aware of this fact, but he had something in his favor. He was righteous and devout, and the reward for his faithfulness, it appears, was that God told him his waiting would pay off. He would not taste death until he saw with his own eyes the promised Messiah. Simeon had great hopes for Israel, and he was waiting patiently for that hope to be realized. One day, led by the Spirit (we do not know, incidentally, what this leading looked or felt like for Simeon) he entered the temple just as Joseph and Mary were preparing to dedicate their son to the Lord in obedience to the Law of Moses. It was here, on this day, that Simeon’s patience was rewarded. He took Jesus into his arms, spoke a song of thanksgiving and prophecy over him, and gave him back to his mother with a blessing and a stark warning. Simeon was not a king. He was not, at least by title, a prophet. But he was a saint (one set apart by his love for and trust in God) who practiced patience according to a specific promise. And God was faithful to that promise—Simeon set his eyes on Messiah.
What is it you are waiting for? The Bible tells us that people perish for a lack of vision. We find ourselves with nothing to look forward to and we sink into a walking coma, trudging hurriedly from one day to the next with death as our only reward. Simeon refused that way of life, and so should you. The joy God promised him kept him alive and hopeful in the process. When he finally set eyes on the one he had been waiting for his heart swelled and his voice cried out a hymn of thanksgiving. Now he would die in peace.
God has given you a promise as well. If you have set your hope there, you too will behold his Christ with your own eyes. It is a promise that must and will be fulfilled. Jesus is coming back. His first Advent was not his last. Mortality will give way to immortality and we will see him as he is. It is a promise worth waiting for, and like Simeon, we will sing a song of rejoicing when our eyes behold him!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym